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I've seen all 3 so many times I don't need the CDs for that: the themes for
the different people run through my head with no effort at all--and
sometimes without warning.

But for now, my Pet Shop Boys collection on my Nitrus is pushing me through
some work.

Here's what I find fascinating about this thread.

A couple of weeks ago, we more or less arrived at a consensus about some
broad Meyers-Briggs categories where tech writers tend to bunch up.

And periodically we have threads where the left-brainers and the
right-brainers and the top-dead-center-brainers sort themselves out into
camps on various issues.

And a few days ago we got into the reading with the eyes vs. reading
with the ears dichotomy.

This thread began with the variation in individuals' ability to focus
their attention to the point that external stimuli are blocked (great
snippet on Fresh Air the other day about that, by the way*). And now it
has morphed into the question about whether musical
interest/talent/taste has any correlation with any of the above
characteristics or makes any difference at all in the way each of us
approaches our work.

I have no idea what this has to do with technical communication. It
probably does have something to do with it; I just can't figure out what
it is. But all these questions have their basis in neurology, and at
least some of us apparently find this a seductive topic to come back to
time and again.

Just an idle musing. Nothing happening here. Move along, folks.

Dick

* The Fresh Air interview was with the author of a new book titled _Mind
Wide Open_ (or something close to that). The author is a newspaper
science writer who subjected himself to a bunch of high-tech diagnostic
techniques. In the interview he recounted his experience in a Functional
MRI. At one point the investigator instructed him to think a creative
thought. He drew a blank and his internal conversation was, "Think of
something. Think of something. Come on, dammit, think of something."
Then there was a brief break during which he collected himself and
decided to compose a few sentences about the experience he was having.
Then the machine was turned on again and he concentrated on writing
those sentences (which survive intact in the book).

A few weeks later he had the opportunity to view the scans. During the
first, disorganized session, his brain was all lit up. During the
second, effective, session, only a few small areas were active.

What he concluded from this was that the old chestnut about our using
only 10% of our brains and how great it would be if we could use our
whole brains has it backwards. The secret is quieting down the parts of
the brain you don't want to be using right now.